Democratic Colorado Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff is running as a Washington outsider, but he won’t answer questions regarding allegations that he’s really an insider.
Reports since last year have suggested that the White House dangled a job opportunity for Romanoff to keep him from running against incumbent Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet.
The latter was appointed to his seat by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter in January 2009 to replace Ken Salazar, who left to become Interior secretary.
Romanoff’s situation is similar to that of the Democratic nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, Joe Sestak. He was offered an appointment through the White House to refrain from running against incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, whom Sestak defeated in the primary last month.
As for Romanoff, he not only won’t comment on any job offers from the White House but also won't even explain why he won’t comment, writes Denver Post columnist Mike Littwin.
Littwin recited the following conversation with Romanoff spokesman Roy Teicher.
“Me: This Sestak/Romanoff thing keeps getting bigger. I'm wondering why you guys won't comment.
Teicher: That's been Andrew's position from the start.
Me: I get that. But why not?
Teicher: We're not going to comment.
Me: You have a campaign that's supposed to be based on transparency. Is this transparency?
Teicher: We're not going to analyze why we're not commenting. It's just a no comment.
Me: So, you won't comment on why you're not commenting?
Teicher: You can come at this as many ways as you like, but we're not going to comment.”
Littwin points out that all this makes Romanoff a bit hypocritical, given that he casts himself as someone committed to principle and openness.
“Romanoff's campaign is an open book — unless, I guess, that whole transparency thing just becomes too inconvenient,” he wrote.
Romanoff’s stance may not matter in the end. The latest Rasmussen poll on the Colorado Senate seat shows all three Republican candidates holding narrow leads over Romanoff and Bennet.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.